Is Sather Done?

Unless Sather Trades Poti, I hope he is done signing Free Agents. We need spots for the young guys. We need to find out who is an NHL player and who is a career minor leaguer. I hope that Sather really lets the kids play

Unless Sather Trades Poti, I hope he is done signing Free Agents. We need spots for the young guys. We need to find out who is an NHL player and who is a career minor leaguer. I hope that Sather really lets the kids play

While last week's free-agent frenzy has cleared almost all of the top-line players from the market, Maloney said the Rangers are still looking at a couple of moves. He added that more trades can be expected now around the league.

The Rangers have to sign a couple more guys, even if they are role players. This can't be an AHL team. There are going to be some bargains on the market now, with most teams done with the major spendings and hundreds of free agents left to sign. We can get some pretty good 3rd line guys in the $1 mil range.

According to a recent NY Times article, Sather said that the Rangers could have as many as 10-12 "young" players on the current squad at beginning of the year. Knowing Sather's history of being "honest" with fans, I do not believe a word he says.

The only reason to bring in more FA's at this point is to create more competition for spots. I am all for playing youth and building from within, but at the same time, these kids need to earn it, they shouldn't just be handed spots on the top 2 lines.

To me, it makes sense for the Rangers to take a wait-and-see approach with things right now. There's a lot of uncertainty as to what life in the new NHL will be like both on and off the ice. We don't now how the CBA will play out in practice, we don't know how the new rules will change things.

Other teams have jumped at the opportunity to bring in big-name 30+ FA's at long-term deals. With the cap, they could regret that. Let's learn from others' mistakes instead of them learning from ours for a change. I think some of those decisions have been motivated by a desire to spark fan interest. The Rangers don't really have that pressure as much. We're all still here after all this, being bad for another year or two won't drive us away.

Unless Sather Trades Poti, I hope he is done signing Free Agents. We need spots for the young guys. We need to find out who is an NHL player and who is a career minor leaguer. I hope that Sather really lets the kids play

Reason # 34,578,249,039 to hate Glen Sather: Simon Gagne signed for less than Tom Poti.

The only reason to bring in more FA's at this point is to create more competition for spots. I am all for playing youth and building from within, but at the same time, these kids need to earn it, they shouldn't just be handed spots on the top 2 lines.

To me, it makes sense for the Rangers to take a wait-and-see approach with things right now. There's a lot of uncertainty as to what life in the new NHL will be like both on and off the ice. We don't now how the CBA will play out in practice, we don't know how the new rules will change things.

Other teams have jumped at the opportunity to bring in big-name 30+ FA's at long-term deals. With the cap, they could regret that. Let's learn from others' mistakes instead of them learning from ours for a change. I think some of those decisions have been motivated by a desire to spark fan interest. The Rangers don't really have that pressure as much. We're all still here after all this, being bad for another year or two won't drive us away.

The idea that the veterans are being brought in to provide competition is all well and good, but the question still remains: will any of these veterans get less ice time because some kid beats them out of a job? And will management be willing to sit some veteran with a guaranteed contract?

Prospects learn by playing, if signing veterans means they get less quality minutes, then the veterans are going to be hurting their development. Prospects make mistakes while they are playing, will they continue to get ice time after they make a mistake? Or will a veteran take their place after the first bonehead play?

The idea that the veterans are being brought in to provide competition is all well and good, but the question still remains: will any of these veterans get less ice time because some kid beats them out of a job? And will management be willing to sit some veteran with a guaranteed contract?

Prospects make mistakes while they are playing, will they continue to get ice time after they make a mistake? Or will a veteran take their place after the first bonehead play?

Ranger history doesn't provide much room for optimism.

History tells you no. At least the Rangers history under Sather does. In theory, bringing in veterans to create competition is all well and good, however in the case of the Rangers it has simply meant bringing in players that are guaranteed to play top two line minutes, whether they earn it or not.
As of right now, you know perfectly well that Rosie, Nylander, Straka & Jagr are 4 of the top 6 forwards and that Poti, Kasper, & Malik are 3 of the defensemen. Balej needs to be given an honest chance on the 2nd line. As too does Lundmark. I know he has not shown a ton, but at 25 he needs to be given a chance to show whether or not he belongs. Tyutin joins the 3 listed defensemen, making it 4. Lampman has shown that he belongs, at least as a #6. Kondratiev needs to be given a chance as well. If these players are shut-out from making the cut by veterans, just because they are veterans, then what kind of a rebuild is this?

I don't know much about Rullier and how he'll factor into this. But unless the Rangers trade someone (like Poti) I'd hold off on other free agents. I'd wait until training camp and decide on Lampman then as to whether he's ready or not. I would expect there will be players available. There's also the possibity of a surprise like Baranka taking a big step forward.